Lifetime Maps, read the fine print....

Perhaps Garmin should consider:

- Add $40 to each GPS they sell
- Each GPS includes free lifetime map updates from the myGarmin account of the person who registered the unit.

This way:

- Garmin has sold a lifetime map update with every unit sold (lower cost to us, more subscriptions for Garmin)

- Garmin can adverstise that every one of their GPS's have lifetime maps updates to the original owner

- People who buy used Garmins can still purchase the regular $119 lifetime updates if they want

- Stolen gps units people buy can not get the free map updates because the original owner did not release that serial number from their myGarmin account.

- People who want to update their gps hardware every three or four years will always have lifetime updates and don't have to worry about buying a new $120 subscription each time.

- If each GPS purchased from Garmin already has the lifetime maps included with it, piracy of their maps should become less of an issue.

I'd go for it--even at $80 extra initial cost...

I probably would go for it as well, but for every few bucks higher they go, Garmin may loose sales to other competetors. I am not a marketing person, but I suspect that $40-$60 for an included lifetime subscription (if Garmin was able to get that was every gps sale) should give them a good enough margin of profit after paying royalties to Navtech, in addition to the other benefits Garmin would receive from doing this.

You can't see too much of the map when your GARMIN get bricked...just be happy after you get it fixed for free...but for how long and what kind of trouble will be next???
... better start thinking of getting more reliable one...after you get fed up by chatting to friendly technical support and so called "free fixing"
THE QUALITY OF GARMIN PRODUCTS SEEMS TO BE REALITY OF THE PAST!

Oh boy I was really thinking of getting the lifetime maps... I haven't ever tried calling about any issues because I just reset my garmin and in a few days it goes back to normal.

umm.....
well....
won't say i have not considered it...
won't admit to having done it though.....
won't even admit to having seen it on a well know tracker recently either....

you'd have to give them access to your account. not good.

I know that it was attached to the unit. Something you have to deal with if you change around the unit for a new one.

Just asking, why is a four year old thread being re-opened?

Anyone with a minimum amount of grey matter would know that the LMT is not YOUR lifetime!!!!!

I don't have Lifetime Garmin maps, so this discussion really doesn't apply to me. But I'm not clear on what the issue is.

I created an "account" with Garmin when I first set up my nuvi and got it fresher maps than what were in it when I bought it. But I never gave Garmin any access to my credit card or other purchasing information, that transaction took place between myself and the retailer who sold me the GPSr. I probably used my real name but doubt if I even had to do that, and I likely didn't even give them an address. I sure never gave them my birthday, mother's maiden name, or SS#, even if they asked. I expect that is the same for buyers of nuvis with Lifetime Maps.

If I were to get another nuvi, I would simply create another account. I see no benefit in tying together multiple accounts for multiple gps receivers. It isn't like Garmin lets you buy anything once and then use it on all of your devices or move it from one to another. So an account per device makes sense.

So why not let the new owner of a GPS that you previously bought log in as you to get new already paid for updates? I fail to see any problem here. The "worst" that I can imagine happening is that I might get an email about some issue with the old GPS and need to pass it along to the new owner, and that seems unlikely since I've never received such an unsolicited email from Garmin in the past.

If concerned about an email for multiple devices match up and somehow revealing that you exercised your "right of first sale", well you should never give a company like Garmin your actual email in the first place. Use a free forwarding service like SpamGourmet.com to create a unique email for each account. That way if Garmin ever starts spamming you or "shares" your personal information with a "business partner" (or is simply hacked and has the information stolen) you can cut off the spam for that address without having to to abandon you real primary email account.

For that matter, people do frequently change ISPs or otherwise need to update an email address, so there must be some way to give Garmin a new email address for that account. So you could just change it to link to the new owner's email, or a spamgourmet.com address that they create.

If you want to give your GPS with lifetime maps to someone else, or even sell it to some one else, you can now deregister the device from your myGarmin.com account and the new owner can register it in their name.

There is no need to give anyone your myGarmin.com account ID or password.

I gave my 3790 to my dad. I deregistered it and then he registered it. He was able to update the maps with no issues.

It doesn't matter what computer I use I just connect my 3790LMT to it and run GarminMapUpdater.exe and it updates the unit to the latest maps. No need to do any kind of login to Garmin so whomever has the unit it will still update the GPS if there are lifetime maps tied to the unit.

It should be noted that the original date of this topic is from back in 2009 when Garmin was very strict about the map updating policy including the transfer of maps to another unit (if yours was damaged and needed to be replaced for some reason). A lot has changed since then and Garmin has relaxed many of those stricter policies.

@rjrsw

That's true only if you have downloaded the Garmin MapUpdater program from the Garmin website.

Hopefully Garmin will continue to support this program as it seems to be the least trouble free of all the map update options. Unfortunately we may just find one day that it's gone, older versions don't work any longer and myDashboard or Garmin Express are our only options. Using myDashboard does require you have a myGarmin.com account.

The original posting mentions traffic as unique to the unit and that is not precisely true. I bought a traffic subscription for my 760 when the free one ran out. When I implemented the lifetime subscription, it reprogrammed the traffic receiver in the power cord. I can use that same power cord with my nuvi 765t and my nuvi 885t. I also have another add based lifetime power cord I use when traveling regardless of which nuvi I bring.

With at least the older traffic system, the physical object associated with the lifetime traffic license is not the GPS, it is the power cord.

I have no problem with it being the "lifetime" of the unit as long as if they allow transfer for a device that is "repaired" by them or an authorized dealer with a replacement.

...whatever happened to honesty? This is the very reason we're in the damned big mess we're all in now. Just go out and buy lifetime maps again if you have to! In life, we all choose to spend our money where we want, I have eight of these...all Garmins, and I bought lifetime maps on them all! I figured I lost or gained more than that in the stock market in 1 second!. Once it's spent, it's spent, and move on. I'm happy I chose the way I did, besides, who guarantees anything for the like of the buyer, only life insurance. and I hope you have plenty of it!

Garmin's lifetime rate per unit is better then what GM charges ($199.00) per year to update. I wish there was a way to convert my built in Nav. to Garmin.

I believe that it also lapses if you fail to upgrade over a period of time... Not that I feel like I want to skip a map upgrade......

..no, that stands for manufacturers. All the mfr's charge way too much for updates, not just GM. That's why I flat refuse to buy a car with a nav system. Their yearly update price more than pays for a good, brand new GPS. It's a total rip off.